7.11.2005

Quick Article on M-V-Lee

From ESPN.com

Written by Jayson Stark

NL MVP of the Half-YearDerrek Lee, Cubs.

We'd feel better about this choice if the Cubs hadn't just careened to six games out in the wild-card race. But it's still hard to pick against a guy who's a threat to lead the league in not just the standard old triple-crown categories but also all these departments: runs, slugging, on-base percentage, hits, extra-base hits, total bases, average with runners in scoring position and average against left-handers and right-handers. Even though just about no one is ever on base in front of him, if Lee's second half matches his first half, he'd finish at .378, with 49 homers, 102 extra-base hits, 220 hits, 19 stolen bases and a .721 slugging percentage. So how many players have ever had a year like that? Exactly none. (And only if we lower the SB bar to 15 do we drag in one man -- George H. Bambino Ruth.) APOLOGIES TO: Albert Pujols, Andruw Jones, Chad Cordero, Morgan Ensberg, Bobby Abreu.